To Be Free
by KoiFishDreams
Summary: Nora Weiss struggles to be free from the underground hell she's been born into only to face a world trapped by walls and the monsters who put them there. Joining the military as a means of escape, Nora is destined to join the Scouting Legion and fight a war bigger than any cage. The question is, can this street rat survive the horror of the titans or will the truth devour her?


**Disclaimer: I do not own Attack on Titan. Not even a little.**

 **A/N WARNING* Will probably be alternate universe since I hate doing my homework on things and the me doing the whole "Changing it to fit my own narrative" thing. You've been warned, yo.**

 _Nora Weiss was used to the dark._

"Come back here, you fucking brat!"

"Like fuck I will!" A small tomboyish girl shouted back at a group of very angry men. The pigs could do without a bit of their "hard earned cash" so why the fuck were they being so persistent.

"You damned pickpocket, I'll skin you!" Nora blocked the threats out as she ran forward. Blue eyes wide and determined to just escape and avoid the man who had so quickly gathered his friends into a mob after her.

 _Nora Weiss was used to the stale air that smothered her from all sides._

Taking a sharp turn down a dank alleyway Nora quickly scrambled up the pile of trash that would serve as her latter to a building's low roof and her next route of escape. She cursed her judgement if pickpocketing the man when he had so obviously been among his friends, but the drunk had seemed such an easy target that Nora hadn't realized how volatile the situation could get. Perched on the roof, Nora spied as the men entered the ally. "Come out now boy and I promise to only beat you until you're red and blue!" The sweaty pig of a man shouted, his friends grinning and laughing along side him.

Nora tsked, the man's voice sounded like shit and she already crawled through filth to get to the roof, like fuck she was crawling back down for that _tempting_ offer. Ducking her head, the petite girl crawled along the roof to the farside of the ally and got up only to jump to the next roof. Nora went through the motions of hopping low roof to low roof, only pausing to climb up the side of a building she couldn't readily reach the roof of. After the fifth or so roof Nora had to pause for breath, her lungs and muscles burning from overuse and malnutrition.

 _Nora Weiss was used to never seeing the sky, the ceiling reaching far above everyone's heads._

Thumbing around the coin pouch she had managed to snag, Nora let out a low whistle. No wonder those sweaty bastards were angry. There was enough there to keep her fed maybe three weeks if she stretched it. Maybe a week and a half if she paid Kennet to stay under his roof again for a short while. Huffing, the girl messed up her short hair and basked in the feeling of security the money brought her. She would survive a little longer.

 _Nora Weiss was used to sleeping on grimy streets and being kicked off doorsteps._

Hopping off of the next roof Nora strolled down the path that would lead her to Kennet's place. His home was small and out of the way but he'd open the door to anyone with money and was reliable for that. Smiling big, Nora felt a skip in her step, today wasn't just another grimy day after all, it was her birthday and it was shaping up to be a good one. "Today I'm ten." Nora said to herself, testing the feeling of the words on her tongue and not deciding if she liked them or not. If she was ten that means she had successfully survived most of her childhood in this dark and wretched place. That was both a good thing and a bad thing. The pale girl hated the underground city she had grown up since she was old enough to understand that _it wasn't right._ It wasn't right that she struggled to survive, it wasn't right she dressed as a boy to avoid the dangers of being a girl, it wasn't right that she never saw the light of true day, _it wasn't right that she had no choice in being trapped down here while the military police got fat laughing at her misery._

The outskirts of town were more peaceful than the streets within and the small girl took her time to appreciate the almost peacefulness she got from walking the worn out paths. It were these moments of small reflections that put Nora at ease until she reached the next cluster of slums and she had to be on guard again.

Nora's smile turned into a scowl, she had arrived at Kennet's house and something wasn't right. Kennet was waiting for her. The man was tall and thin with lank greasy straw colored hair and a pointed chin, his eyes reminded Nora of a dead fish. Kennet rubbed his hands nervously as Nora approached, "Weiss! My boy! Long time no see! I heard you were coming my way today!" His voiced said with force cheer.

Nora narrowed her eyes dangerously, "Oh yeah, and where didja hear that bit of news?" Nora was tense and prepared to run, this whole situation stank like bullshit.

"What, can't a man keep an ear out for one of his favorite customers?" Kennet let out a nervous laugh and wrung his hands anxiously as Nora started to back away slowly.

"Your voice sounds sleezy as fuck Kennet." Nora glared, turning around quickly only to pause in horror. The group of men from earlier standing only a few feet away. "Son of a bitch!" The girl cursed darting to the left only for her arm to be caught in the slimy grip of the drunk she had stolen from earlier.

"Heh, stupid shit, think we haven't heard of the little shit who uses the roofs before?" Nora cursed at herself, of course they had. She was one of the few street rats in this area that managed to survive pickpocketing the criminals that took residence here, people knew her at least well enough to sell her out, dammit.

When the first fat fist connected to her face Nora saw stars, the second her thoughts turned hazy, and the third left her thoroughly numb to the beating she took. She'd like to say she put up a fight, that she didn't go down easy, but she was only ten and could only focus on surviving. The ringing in her ears didn't leave her once they had finished beating her to a pulp, and one of her eyes had swollen shut. Nora was barely aware of Kennet standing over her, the thin man staring at her sadly. She was only just aware of the sigh he let out and only reacted once the man had picked her up. Everything hurt and she was _scared_ to be touched, _scared_ to be hurt again. Kicking and screaming, Nora fought Kennet as he brought her into his home and layed her down on the filthy couch. "You can stay tonight free." The greasy man said and left her alone for the rest of the night.

 _Nora Weiss was used to days like these._

 _Nora Weiss was used to holding in the tears._

 _Nora Weiss was used to the filth._

 _Nora Weiss was sick of it._

The injured girl limped from Kennet's home that morning holding her arm close to her chest and ignoring how it hurt to breathe. She had no money and no home but that wasn't anything new. A new determination entered her shockingly clear blue eyes. She would escape from this hell hole one way or another. The pale, boyish looking girl wouldn't let herself be trapped. She'd aim for freedom.

 **A/N Right! so I'm on a bit of a AOT kick right now and obviously I'm expressing it through fanfic because I've had trouble finding any that I've liked. The way I work is there are goals to each chapter and as long as those goals are reached the chapters can vary in length. Obviously this is an OC story so expect lots of things to change as the story progresses. Sorry for any errors you may notice, my phone updated so typing anything is a bitch right now.** **This chapter is an introduction to Nora, expect more build up in the future, yo.**


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